Page 18 of Not That Guy

Weston

Grady lifted his glass. “To the winning team.”

“As predicted.”

The rest of our team laughed along with me, and we toasted each other.

To my shock, the second team after us wasn’t Brenner’s but another group.

Not that I’d been watching, but I hadn’t seen him or anyone from his group at the bar.

Fernando searched the room. “Some of the teams haven’t even returned yet. I don’t see Manny.”

My antenna buzzed. “Oh? Are you two friendly?”

Fernando inclined his head. “We know each other from the Hispanic National Bar Association, and I’ve met him and his husband at events. Manny’s a great guy—smart and friendly and a great lawyer. He helped my wife and me close on our house last year.”

“I’m sure they’ll be back soon. There are still people trickling in.” I tipped my half-empty glass at the door. Here comes their team.” The members of Brenner and Manny’s group walked in, frowning.

Fernando waved to them. “Hey, guys, what’s wrong?”

A heavyset older man spoke up. “We haven’t heard from Manny or Brenner. They texted us after they picked up the T-shirt and said they were off to the bar.”

“Maybe they’re eating and lost track of time.

” The excuse I offered was met with shrugs and uncertainty.

And knowing Brenner and how…anal he was, for lack of a better word, I couldn’t imagine that occurring.

One of his strengths was punctuality. Plus, as foolish as our silly rivalry was, I knew he’d want to come in first. A knot of concern formed in my stomach.

“Maybe,” a woman from his team said, chewing her lip. “But that doesn’t explain their lack of response. We were all in constant contact until about two hours ago, and then nothing.”

“Text them again,” Grady urged.

She picked up her phone, and her fingers flew over the screen. After a moment, she shook her head. “Still unread. Like all my other messages.”

By now it was close to an hour since we’d come in from our trek around town, and everyone else had returned and were telling stories of their afternoon. Fernando’s phone rang.

“It’s Manny. Dude, where are you?” The color drained from his face. “Shit. I’ll be right there. He okay?”

My stomach dropped. He? Brenner? “What happened?” I set my glass on the bar top, and Grady did the same.

Fernando shoved the phone into his pocket. “They’re in the hospital. They got jumped by a bunch of homophobes outside the bar.”

“Let’s go. I’ve got a car.” I sprinted to the garage as the others followed, and we got into the car. I gunned the engine, barely waiting for everyone to close their doors. Anxiety ate at my insides, and none of us spoke on the ten-minute drive. I parked, and we raced into the emergency room.

“Brenner Fleming and Manuel—” I turned to Fernando. “I don’t know his last name.”

“Ortega,” he supplied. “They came in about an hour ago.”

The clerk checked the screen. “Yes. They’re in bays three and four but you all can’t go in there. Only one person per patient.”

“I’ll go for Manny,” Fernando said.

“I’m with Brenner.” There wasn’t even a question.

The two of us pushed open the door to the chaos of a typical emergency room—gurneys everywhere with patients lying on them in various stages of distress.

Doctors, nurses, and EMTs all hustling around while the overhead speakers blatted out calls and codes.

I paid attention to none of it, my sole concern finding Brenner. “There.” I pointed. “Three and four.”

Pulling back the curtain, I saw Brenner sitting on the examination table, head propped in his hands. Something in my stomach twisted, sending a knife’s edge of pain straight to my heart.

“You’ll do anything for attention, won’t you?

” The curtain fell behind me as I stepped inside.

With some difficulty, Brenner raised his gaze to meet mine, and my breath caught.

He sported numerous cuts to his cheeks, a busted lip, and the bruising suggested he’d have at least one black eye. “Jesus, Brenner. What the hell?”

“Bastards came after Manny and me. They thought we were a couple. Seems the combination of gay and lawyer set them off. Do you know how he’s doing?”

“No idea. Fernando is with him, but he called to let us know.”

“And you came…why?” Brenner winced as he shifted position.

“Seriously?” That hurt. “Come on. Aside from what they did to your pretty face, what else is wrong?”

The curtain opened. “Mr. Fleming?” The doctor directed his sharp eyes to me. “You are?”

“A friend. We work at the same firm, and we’re both here for a corporate team-building event.”

He didn’t answer me and addressed Brenner. “We’re going to take you to X-ray for your ribs and have you checked out to make sure you don’t have a concussion. Are you dizzy, nauseated, anything like that?”

“No. I’m fine, aside from the obvious.” Brenner managed a wan smile that was more like a grimace.

Anger swelled inside me at whoever had done this to him and Manny. I’d never had a violent urge in my body, but I wanted to hunt down those punks and beat them senseless.

“I’ll wait until all your tests are done.”

If I’d stood naked in front of him, Brenner couldn’t have looked more surprised. “What? No, go back. I’ll be fine.”

I didn’t get a chance to argue because the orderly came to take him, and they left without another word.

Without Brenner, it made no sense to remain in the examination bay, so I left, but peeked into the next room where I’d seen Fernando disappear to check on Manny.

The room was empty. Out in the waiting area, Fernando and Grady waited for me, along with the other members of Brenner’s team.

“Where’s Manny? How is he?” I questioned Fernando.

“He’s all right. Shaken up and a few bruises and scrapes, but they’re releasing him. He said Brenner took the brunt of the attack. Maybe because he tried to reason with them. Who knows?”

“He should know better. You don’t argue with idiots.”

Manny appeared in the doorway to the waiting room, complete with bruises on his face and a scrape on his chin. He joined our group, and I waited for him to greet the other members of his team and then introduced myself.

“Hi, I’m Weston Lively, a friend of Brenner’s.”

“Hey. Where’s Brenner?” I found his abruptness odd but ignored it. The man had been through enough. He didn’t need me judging him.

“They took him to X-ray for his ribs, and they may keep him overnight to see if he has a concussion, but he said he has no symptoms,” I explained.

“What happened?” Grady asked Manny. Other people from the firm had come as well, and we made a crowd in the small waiting area.

“We were in the bar and had a drink and some food. These punks were drinking beer and doing shots. Definitely got an anti-gay vibe from them—they kept staring at us, like they thought we were a couple. We got the bill and went out to wait for the car to take us to the hotel, but they followed us, and that’s when the harassment started.

I warned Brenner to ignore them, but he thought he could talk his way out of it.

” For the first time, Manny met my eyes.

“He’s never had to deal with this before, and it’s hard to imagine so much hate until it’s directed your way. ”

“How did you get away?” Instinctively, my hands had curled into fists. “They could’ve killed you.”

“The car we ordered arrived, and they ran when the driver got out of the car and screamed at them. He took us here.”

“Thank God for that,” I muttered.

Grady put a hand on my shoulder and leaned in close. “You’re gonna stay to make sure he’s okay, aren’t you?”

“I want to, but Brenner said I shouldn’t.”

Grady tightened his grip. “Since when do you listen to what other people say?” He didn’t wait for my smartass answer, and I wasn’t sure I had one.

I was too scared. Grady pinned me with a frown.

“You know Brenner’s wrong. You’re the one he’s known the longest. Things like that matter when you’ve been hurt. ”

All of a sudden, nerves kicked up. “I-I don’t want him to get angry.”

The harsh lines of Grady’s face softened. “I am one hundred percent sure he won’t. I’m going to head back to the hotel and grab something to eat. I can call Daniel and let him know—I’m sure he’ll want to hear that both Manny and Brenner will be okay.”

“Yeah, thanks. I forgot all about that. You’re right.” The image of Brenner’s battered and bruised face took up every bit of real estate in my head.

“Make sure you keep me in the loop.” Grady gave my shoulder another squeeze, and then he made the rounds to try and convince the others to return with him. They all departed, except for Manny. He remained behind, his expression guarded, as it had been all evening.

Several of the uncomfortable plastic chairs in the waiting room sat empty. I took one, stretched out my legs, and waited.

Manny gave me a face full of puzzlement. “You don’t have to stay. I’m not going anywhere.”

I laced my fingers over my stomach. “Neither am I.” Manny sat, choosing to leave an empty seat between us. Debating whether to go there, I decided to hell with it. “What’s your problem with me?”

It didn’t really matter much, but I wondered if Brenner had said something to him. If he had, it was sure to be negative, which probably accounted for Manny’s attitude.

Hmm . Maybe I did care. As much as I didn’t think I minded people disliking me, I wanted to know why.

“I don’t know you. We’ve never spoken.”

“Exactly.”

“My only problem is Brenner lying in a hospital bed.” Manny shrugged.

Why I was on the defensive, I couldn’t say, but I was too wound up and stopped speaking. A check of my watch showed it had been more than an hour since Brenner was taken to X-ray, and I approached the clerk at the desk.

“Can you tell me if Brenner Fleming is back from X-ray?”

Bright-tipped fingers flew over the keyboard. “Yes, he’s in room 803.”

Fear exploded inside me. “They admitted him? Did they find something wrong? Do—”

“I’m sorry, sir, but I can’t tell you anything else.”

Of course she couldn’t. I forced a smile and left the emergency room, heading for the elevators in the main building. Footsteps pounded after me, but I didn’t stop.

“Weston, please wait,” Manny called after me.

I didn’t wait and followed the overhead signs to the elevator and jabbed the button. Manny caught up with me.

“Why didn’t you stop?”

“Why should I?” I snapped, unconcerned about his opinions, too scared at what I might find upstairs. The doors opened, and I entered and pushed the eighth-floor button.

“I’m sorry—”

“I don’t care. Looks like they may have found something wrong, because Brenner’s been admitted. So excuse me, but that’s my focus.”

We waited in toe-tapping frustration as the elevator stopped several times in between. When we finally reached the eighth floor, I hurried out and down the hall to the room the clerk had given me, to find a weary-looking Brenner lying in bed, staring at the ceiling.

“You just couldn’t stand not coming in first, is that it, Brenner?

” I strolled in, attempting to act casual, but the fact was, he looked like hell.

Black-and-blue marks had blossomed over his body, and pain lines were etched into his too-pale face.

Anger mixed with fear twisted inside my chest at how close he’d come to being seriously injured.

“I thought I told you to go home,” he muttered.

“Yeah, but you know I don’t listen to what you say.” I pushed a chair to the side of his bed and sat. Manny walked in and winced.

“God, Brenner.”

“Hey. I’m okay.” He tried to sit up but couldn’t mask the pain and groaned. “Ow, shit. That hurts.”

A nurse walked in. “I’m sure it does. You have four severely bruised ribs, a sprained ankle, and a mild concussion. You’re going to hurt for quite some time.”

That sounded as bad as Brenner looked. Without thinking, I put my hand on his arm and patted it. “Don’t worry. I’ll stay here with you.”

Apparently, Brenner wasn’t impressed. “Don’t be ridiculous.

” His growl had little effect on me, and I didn’t respond.

“I don’t need a babysitter, and I’m in the hospital, where they can look after me.

” To Manny, he softened his tone. “Thanks for stopping by. I’ll be out in the morning and touch base when I get home. How’re you feeling?”

Whatever I had to say to Brenner would be between the two of us, so I stayed silent.

Frowning at me, Manny answered, “I’m okay, just some bumps and bruises. I’m sorry you took the brunt of it.”

“Are you going to talk to the police?” I asked. “I’m sure they can be identified by the bartender or someone else.”

Manny nodded. “I plan to stop by the station before heading back to the hotel.”

For the first time, I smiled. “Good idea. You should get a move on it so the bozos don’t get a head start, in case they make a run for it.”

Manny’s eyes narrowed, but I kept up that fake-ass grin. I wanted him to leave, and the sooner the better.

“I’ll check in with you in the morning. I’m really sorry this happened, Brenner.”

Brenner dismissed him with a wave of his hand. “Not your fault. I’m sure I’ll be out of here tomorrow. I should’ve listened to you and not opened my mouth to those idiots.”

True, but I decided to keep my mouth shut. I didn’t need that famous Brenner Fleming scowl. Manny looked to me as if expecting me to come with him, but I kept my ass in the chair.

With a huff, Manny said, “Now I see why you’re friends. You’re both grouches,” then left us.

“I thought you were leaving too.”

“I don’t think you should be alone. And yes, there are nurses, but you don’t have someone personal to watch over you. What happens if you start to feel sick and no one’s around?”

Dubious blue eyes met mine. “And you’re going to be here to take care of that? You expect me to believe you care?”

“Ouch. That hurt. Come on, Brenner. Enough already.”

Brenner turned his head to face me, and it must’ve been too quick for his pounded-upon brain to catch up. Whatever he’d been about to unleash on me faded to the wayside. He paled, and beads of sweat glistened on his face.

“Shit, I’m gonna be sick.”

I grabbed the plastic bowl from the table and held it under his head while he puked up his guts. After he was finished, I poured him a cup of water, and he swished out his mouth. I set it aside and waited for him to thank me.

“Get out.”

Shocked, I blinked. “What?”

“Get the hell out of here.” He shut his eyes.

Recognizing defeat, I walked out of the room. I should let Brenner Fleming sit with it, but I couldn’t, in case something was seriously wrong. I stopped by the nurse’s station to tell them he’d gotten sick.

“You’re a good friend,” one of them said, and I forced a smile.

Too bad Brenner didn’t think so.